My Neen

I'm not sure why, but I just love this picture. Maybe it's because it is so Neen right now. She is in LOVE with stuffed animals. Her favorites are puppies and turtles. Her hair is always scattered. She will not keep her ponytails or barretts in lately. She just wants her hair down, so she looks like a ragmuffin most of the time. She doesn't like shoes, but will wear these rain boots only outside, because the rocks and wood chips hurt her feet. She always has a funny look on her face. Sometimes it's intentional, and sometimes not. Here she is deep in thought, and I can just see the wheels turning. This girl is never still, and always has a plan. This is my Neen "today".

Love

I forgot to add this picture to the mix. These kids are silly, and goofy, and crazy, but you know what? I couldn't love them anymore than I do!

Balloon Fiesta 2010

Can you believe that it is already October? I can't! The beginning of October is Balloon Fiesta for us! It is a huge event and people come from all over the world! It really is a beautiful sight to see hundreds of balloons in the sky at one time. It's also fun to see all the new balloons each year!

My sister Amanda came into town for the first weekend of Balloon Fiesta, and my Mom will arrive on Thursday for the second weekend!

Us girls waiting for the night glows that ended up being canceled. Out of nowhere the skies turned dark and the winds picked up.
The dark clouds rolling in as the sunset.

Dawn patrol ready to access the weather at 5:45 am. Yes, we left our house at 5 am for this spectacular event.

Tired Anna participating in the National Anthem.

Watching the first of the balloons fly in the air.

Neen loved these binoculars even though she didn't need them. :)

Auntie Manda's lap is so nice, but "jus for a minute".

The kids thought it was pretty neat to meet a local meteorologist Steve Stucker. He is pretty well known at the Fiesta and has all the collective balloon pins!

Overall it was great fun, and we can't wait for round two!

My Hot Mess of a Purse!!

My friend Lindsey over at http://thecarsonsblog.blogspot.com/ is having a Hot Mess contest! The prize for her contest is a Lindsey original! :) I love Lindsey's hats!!! We have several of them, and need to get a few more to match this winters wardrobe!!! Check out her blog and her etsy store http://www.etsy.com/shop/ReapWhatYouSew?ga_search_query=reapwhatyousew&ga_search_type=seller_usernames You might even recognize one of her models. :)

So here is my hot mess of a purse! It's amazing at how much clutter you can gather in such a small purse! Just imagine what my diaper bag looked like!! ;)

Items in my hot mess include:

1. my name badge and key card to get in the kids school

2. my keys

3. lipstick, and gloss aka: plump in stump

4. hair ties

5. expired coupon

6. bottle of Tylenol

7. ratty old wallet

8. bottle of hand sanitizer that Neen calls hanitizer

9. handful of trash, receipts, and wrappers

10. pen

11. my phone

12. 2 redbox dvds that I have had for toooooo long. Should have returned them over a week ago.

13. a handful of change

14. a pair of CLEAN Dora panties

15. 2 smashed cereal bars

16. tin of mints

That's my Mess how about yours?

Beautiful Sunrise

In the past week the plants in our backyard have sprouted these long wheat like ends, and they are beautiful in the sun. In the back we see them in the sunrise, and in the front they sparkle in the sunset. They are just golden and gorgeous!

Will this girl ever wear shoes?

Trin does not like shoes, or boots for that matter! A couple of weeks ago I took her to the store, and told her to pick out any shoes she'd like to wear. After many shoes were tried on she chose these boots! I told her that the boots she chose were so cute, and the best boots ever! She was so proud, and couldn't wait to wear them!

When we got home she put the boots on, wore them for about 10 steps, and kicked them off. She said that she didn't like the boots, they hurt her feet, and they would be cute in her closet.

She was right. The boots ARE cute, and they're in her closet! I could almost kick myself in the rear for not putting any hard sole shoes on her until she was 20 months old. She wants nothing to do with shoes. She loves her flip-flops and crocs!!! I love my flip-flops and crocs too, but they are not the safest or warmest type of shoes to wear! What am I gonna do??

Oh...in this picture she's showing me all the places the boots hurt!

In Full Swing!

Our lives are HoPPin' right now! School is in full swing and our calendar is FULL!!

The kids are loving school, and the only complaint I've heard is from Anna, and she doesn't know why school can't start at 10:00 am. She's not a morning person and says that she would love school more if it started later!! ;) Wouldn't we all?

Our schedule these days includes: golf 2xs a week, private tutoring for Casey in Math...cross your fingers it helps, because it cost an arm and a leg! :(, gymnastics class for each of the girls once a week, Anna has brownies once a week, and drama club once a week. Trin and I have MOPS twice a month, and Bible study twice a month. Big Casey also has a Bible study twice a month, and church. We're contemplating doing a small group. My head hurts thinking about it, but I LOVE it!!! I love being busy and on the go, and loving my kids all the while!!!

So what does your schedule look like these days?

Anna on the first day of school! She is quite the diva!!

Bub on the first day, and sweet as ever!

Don't let Neen fool you in this picture! She was so excited they were going back to school! She loves having her time with Mama back! :)